Hospital losing 100k a day

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has revealed that it is losing £100,000 every day because of "inefficiency".

The trust said it needs to make savings of £24 million by April next year but will still finish the year with a deficit of £26 million.

The trust, which has plans to radically change how it provides services in order to address its financial position, said it would not be financially able to gain foundation status "in the foreseeable future".

The trust's three hospitals, Pontefract, Pinderfields and Dewsbury, will be affected by the changes, with plans to downgrade the maternity unit at Dewsbury and possibly shut down the hospital's A&E unit.

The trust is considering two options to "radically reorganize" services. The first is to consolidate children's services and consultant-led maternity services in Wakefield, make changes to emergency services in Pontefract and change how surgeries are arranged at all three hospitals.

The second option would bring all A&E care to Pinderfields and increase the amount of planned and diagnostic care at Dewsbury and Pontefract.

Stephen Eames, the trust's interim chief executive, said: "The challenges faced by the trust have been a matter of public concern for many years. The discussions we have had with people so far have brought us to the point where we feel we have two options to consider."

"The first looks at doing what we must do to make services clinically safe and sustainable, whilst the second goes further, radically reorganising services across our hospital sites to make the best use of resources."